Maureen Charlton (14 September 1930 – 10 August 2007) was an Irish playwright, poet and broadcaster.
Maureen Charlton was born Mary Farrell on 14 September 1930 in Dublin. She was one of three daughters of Edward and Bridget Farrell (or O'Farrell). She grew up in Mount Merrion, attending Loreto College, St Stephen's Green. Along with her younger sister Nuala, she studied arts in University College Dublin (UCD) where they were both active members of the Dramatic Society. Under the name Mairín O'Farrell, she starred as Pegeen Mike in The Playboy of the Western World as part of an inter-varsity drama festival in Cambridge and Oxford in 1950.
Collaborating with her sister Nuala, Charlton wrote an adaptation of Synge's Playboy as a ballad opera called The heart's a wonder. It was performed in UCD's Aula Maxima in November 1957, after they had graduated. In August 1958, it was performed professionally at the Gaiety Theatre, Dublin. The orchestral arrangements was by Gerard Victory, costumes and sets were by Micheál Mac Liammóir, with Milo O'Shea and Joe Lynch starring in the production. It proved a popular production despite some purists' objections. CIÉ put on a special train from Waterford, and there were plans for a long-playing record. The play was taken to the Westminster Theatre, London after a four-week run, and later was performed in New York in early 1959. Mary O'Malley put on the play a number of times at various venues in 1959, 1962 and 1971. BBC televised scenes from the show in September 1958, and in 1971 it was aired on RTÉ as part of the Synge centenary. It was revived several times, including in the Abbey Theatre in 1978, and was popular with amateur dramatic societies.

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